Krampus

This month has been amazing. It's my first December in Austria, not to mention my first Christmas here too. Life here has been slightly different than Southern California. For instance, I've never dealt with a frozen car door, or driving to work using the snowplow guide poles to find my way. It was -22c (-8f) when I got off work the other day.

Interesting to say the least.

The interior of my car windows were frozen. So frozen, the ice wouldn't chip off. Could it be that the ice and glass fused together like some freaky science experiment? I doubt it, but it was weird. I sat there in my car for 20 minutes blasting the defroster. One of my rear brakes was apparently frozen because I dragged a tire for a while in the hardened snow. The manual trasmission got stiff on me. The tranny oil was too cold etc. How cool is that?

Have you heard of a Krampus? I hadn't until this month. They're ugly creatures with horns who whip or beat bad kids. They only come out in December. There was a little Krampus festival in our village earlier this month. I went alone. My 3 yr old, Noah, doesn't like them. Go figure? As well, my wife, Yvonne, doesn't like them either. She's scared. Ha-ha. This is what Wikipedia says about the Krampus:

"Krampus is a mythical creature. According to legend, Krampus accompanies St. Nicholas during the Christmas season, warning and punishing bad children, in contrast to St. Nicholas, who gives gifts to good children.

In the Alpine regions, Krampus is represented by a demon-like creature. Traditionally, young men dress up as the Krampus in Austria during the first two weeks of December, particularly on the evening of 5 December, and roam the streets frightening children with rusty chains and bells."

May I add they pull kids' hair and whip them with sticks! Yup, I've seen it.

The Christmas spirit is alive in Windischarsten. The area is amazingly beautiful right now; not that it isn't during the other months. It reminds me of old Christmas movies showing falling snow, people singing, and warm plates of cookies. We even nibble on roasted chestnuts in front of the t.v. People sometimes ask me, "when is the best time to visit Windischgarsten?" Well, now I say, come for Christmas:)

Gabe

Krampus video

A Day With Gabe

Ah, seasons. Oh how I've forgotten you. For those of you back in Socal, a season is when the weather changes. God gave us seasons way back in the beginning of time so we don't become complacent with warm weather, palm trees and flip flops. I think God wanted the people of the Alps to be less complacent than the rest of the world.

So I've been home sick from work for a few days - It's a time for "dragging" your feet. You know, like nose blowing, internet surfing, watching tv, and opening the fridge three times an hour hoping something else will appear. Although I'm under the weather, I still have some fatherly and husbandly (that's not a real word) stuff to do.

"Stuff" - it's always better than "dragging".


We only have one car, so being that I wasn't working, I was on taxi driver duty. First off was getting Yvonne to work on time.



Then I went home, got Noah dressed and fed, and dropped him off at preschool, which they call kindergarten over here. Kinder translates to children, garten translates to garden. They should've called it "kindergerms" because that's where kids meet to exchange germs and take them home to their fathers.


Next up was a drive over to the doctor's office to drop off my chest x-rays.


This is a photo from the doctor's parking lot. You can see one of our favorite grocery stores in the distance.


Afterward, I drove back through the village to get home...


...and check out the creek running through town.




But instead of going home, I thought I'd swing by the local lake real quick. In winter it freezes over to become, what the locals tell me, an ice skating lake. No ice yet.


So back in the car to get my sick self back home.


As I was driving I looked down at the outside temp readout which some refer to as a thermostat. It was cold and I should be wearing my gloves!


This is me wishing I had my gloves.


Back to the house I go. It's good to have a garage in this weather. You can't tell in the photos but its snowing.


The garage is detached from the house. After parking I must walk up the street a little bit to the front door. No big deal, but I have to be careful not to slip on the ice.


Gotta suck down my meds right?


This is what I looked at until it was time to play taxi driver again.


Time flew by too quickly. I peaked outside to see it was snowing harder than before...


...and peaked out the front door at the ice road.


The roads were in much better condition now than before. The trucks must've been by spraying salt. Yes, I forgot my gloves again.


First stop was kindergarten to pick up my boy. He's a smart kid. He wears gloves.


Next stop is the hotel to pick up Yvonne from her reception job. She wears cute little traditional dresses to work that shows a lot of her boobs. I like Austrian traditions. Sorry, no boob shots here.


We had to drive by the local golf course to get to the hotel. No golfers out there today. Don't know why.


She was running a little late so Noah and I decided to grub on some sweets. The hotel owner feeds us whenever we visit. I love that place.


There's a little playroom at the hotel for the kids. The hotel owner has a daughter the same age as Noah, so the toys are age appropriate for him. The girl's name is Lena. She's a blonde. Noah digs on the blonde ladies.


Yvonne finally clocked out and we went home where I could take my medicine and lay down again. Overall it was a good day - a cold and non-complacent day.

Gabe